Talk:Smells Like Teen Spirit/@comment-24986209-20140820064856/@comment-3575890-20140820065453
I just did a post on this, so I'll copy and paste and you can be the judge on whatever tickles your fancy: If you liked B Gata H Kei: *Love Hina - this is the pinnacle of the harem genre. It's a motherfucking classic. It's straight up hilarious, has such a unique cast of characters comprised of mostly badass heroines, a great love story, and the premise is just perfect for this genre. It was my very first anime that dates as far back as my middle school years and it's still one of my favorites. *Zero no Tsukaima - this anime is an action/adventure/fantasy, but it is fucking raunchy as all hell and in that vein, hilarious. It combines elements of fantasy, romance, and rompy humor to make for the perfect romcom anime. I would automatically recommend it to anyone that is a diehard Ryuuji/Taiga shipper because the main pairing has an identical dynamic and is basically the same love story only under very different circumstances. As well, right down to her pint-sized body and her insecurities that go with it, clumsiness, aggressiveness, and spitfire personality, Louise is basically Taiga in a different universe. And while Saito is definitely a far cry from Ryuuji, there are undeniable parallels there as well. If you liked Attack on Titan or Death Note: *Elfen Lied - be warned though, this anime is not for the faint of heart. If you can't handle a lot of gore, this series is NOT for you. I am not embellishing. The gore factor is extreme and the anime in of itself is incredibly disturbing. I recommend this to AOT fans if you appreciated the psychological horror aspect of it, because this anime epitomizes that genre. It does not get more grisly and horrific than Elfen Lied. *Higurashi - like Elfen Lied, this anime is brutal. Again, if you cannot handle extremely graphic depictions of violence and gore, steer clear of this anime. But if you think you have the stomach for it and you love a good psychological horror mystery that constantly keeps you guessing, then I can't recommend this highly enough. This anime will fuck with your head and then some. Not only is it extremely disturbing and violent, but a clusterfuck of confusion. It has such a complex, intricately-woven mystery, that it's comprised of multiple arcs. Now the way this anime works is that it introduces one story arc that leaves all of your questions unanswered only to move on to a new arc that raises a whole other array of questions. Eventually, the anime does answer all of your questions, but not in chronological order. And if that's not confusing enough, the characters are all unknowingly trapped in a time loop whereby time resets each time someone dies. You will drive yourself insane trying to understand this anime, and mark my words you will not have a firm understanding of what's going on until you devour it all the way through, but if you have the patience to stick with it, you're in for one hell of an amazing story. If you liked Toradora!: *Kare Kano - picture a romcom like Toradora, only completely centered around somebody like Ami Kawashima. The main heroine of this anime is an egomaniac that feeds off of others' praise and worship of her and puts on an illustrious facade of being perfect when deep down she's selfish, manipulative, and completely self-obsessed. At the root of her vanity though, is a plethora of insecurities, an insatiable thirst for validation, and an all-consuming desire to be loved. This all changes when she is upstaged by a new student who is smarter, more popular, and better at everything than she is, but whom is also harbouring demons of his own. What begins as a rivalry evolves into a romantic bond between the two of them that gradually brings out who they truly are at their cores. Eventually, they find themselves in each other and grow to accept who they really are. *Peach Girl - this anime revolutionizes the slice of life genre. At first glance, it just looks like any other romcom, but it is INTENSE and deals with extremely heavy subject matter. Like Toradora, it has many love triangles, but the sole focus is on the characters. The main lead Momo Adachi is stigmatized by her peers for her beach bunny appearance despite being a very modest and levelheaded girl. She is slut-shamed, sexually harassed, and pigeonholed as a bimbo because of her blonde hair and tanned skin, which she is incredibly self conscious over but cannot do anything about as she's a swimmer and her bleached hair and bronze skin is due to sun exposure. Her classmates' incessant bullying of her for her appearance has engendered an inferiority-complex linked with the color of her skin, and she is so distressed by her tanned skin and the stigma it brings, that she slathers on sunscreen to try to get her natural tan to fade and is so ashamed of the color of her skin that she believes she cannot confess to the boy she loves until her skin lightens to the same shade as his. Her only friend Sae, on the other hand, is worshiped and idolized by her classmates for her angelic and innocent appearance, but is actually a manipulative psychopath so envious of Momo she is constantly underhandedly plotting ways to ruin Momo's life while masquerading as her friend. The only person that can see through her is Kairi Okayasu, a popular classmate whom befriends Momo and plots to help her expose Sae for the phony she is while also protecting her from Sae. But Momo won't give him the time of day because she's in love with another. I won't say much more, but this anime is one of my all-time favorites of this genre. It deals with body image issues, skin-tone stigma, identity crisis, psychopathy, teen pregnancy, and rape culture, but in between these darker themes, it is light, fluffy, and a whole lot of fun too. *Kodocha: oh my god, this anime is just whack on so many levels but that's what makes it so great. It's fucking hilarious, adorable, and all-out batshit insane. It has the most bizarre, over-the-top characters you will ever seen and an even more outrageous premise. It follows a preteen television star whom just wishes to live a regular life, but an eccentric mother, live-in manager she's in love with, hectic schedule, a swarm of admirers, and anarchic school environment ran by a megalomaniac bully makes that pretty much impossible. Life gets even more complicated when she makes enemies with the class bully, but when she discovers the reasons for why he acts out, she makes it her mission to help him turn his life around and it is from there that a romantic journey between two kindred souls unfolds. If you liked Angel Beats!: *Fruits Basket - this anime has one of the most unique premises of any romcom I've ever seen, and will tug at your heartstrings like no other. The story follows a sweet orphan girl named Tohru Honda whom one day gets taken in by one of her classmates, whom is a member of the cursed Sohmas family. What nobody knows is that the Sohmas bear an ancient curse; when embraced by the opposite sex, they transform into animals of the Chinese zodiac. As the result of this, they have kept themselves at a distance from people outside of their family and have lived in loneliness and isolation, but as Tohru touches each of their lives, that all begins to change. With Tohru's guidance, familial bonds are strengthened, grudges diminished, and new friendships formed, and when love flourishes between she and the two youngest boys - one, a gentle-hearted and reserved student council president whom yearns to be loved for him rather than admired for his beauty and accomplishments and the other, an abrasive, hot-headed delinquent that is shunned as the black sheep of the family and aches for acceptance - the three of their lives are never the same. *Air - This one I cannot put into words. It has been so long since I've last seen it that I can't effectively summarize it. Especially since it is rather confusing and an anime you have to watch more than once to fully understand. But I remember being utterly captivated with its artwork, story, it's characters and their relationships, and recall bawling like a baby by the end of it.